LYNN — Former Lynn Police officer Matthew Coppinger admitted Tuesday in Salem District Court to using excessive force and assaulting a Black man last summer while he was in a holding cell at the city’s police station.
Under an agreement reached with prosecutors, Coppinger will serve 18 months of probation, 80 hours of community service at a homeless shelter, and can never serve in law enforcement again. The agreement does not include any jail time.
Coppinger’s attorney, Kenneth Anderson, said the important part of this agreement is that it resulted in a continuance without finding, meaning that if Coppinger does not have any further issues and completes the required service, his charges will be dismissed.
“He’s never been in trouble before and he’s not going to have any issues,” Anderson said. “I think it’s a just outcome in an obviously difficult situation.”
Anderson said Coppinger is accepting responsibility for his actions and is moving forward.
“He’s happy to put it behind him,” Anderson said.
Video footage of the incident shows Coppinger assaulting Victor White, 33, presumably for not removing his sanitary mask while in a holding cell at the Lynn Police station.
White was arrested at his Lynn home, along with two other men, on June 15, 2020 for public drinking and was assaulted while in police custody. White said he was hosting a housewarming party on his private terrace when police arrived.
The charges against all three men were subsequently dropped by the Essex County District Attorney’s office. An independent investigation into Coppinger’s actions, conducted by a special prosecutor, was soon announced and he later resigned from the police department.
White previously said that he remembers instinctively putting his hand up, and was then “struck with an elbow or a fist on my head, neck, leg, stomach and shoulder and I yelled for help.”
In a police report, Coppinger wrote that White declined to remove his mask and proceeded to grab Coppinger’s wrist and refused to let go. The report also stated that White moved closer to Coppinger, but the video proved neither was accurate.
Special Prosecutor Daniel Bennett, who conducted the independent investigation, said in a previous court hearing that Coppinger should have taken other steps in accordance with department policy, such as using restraints or pepper spray.
White told The Boston Globe, which first reported the agreement, that he did not want to ruin Coppinger’s life with jail time, but he is happy Coppinger is being held accountable.
